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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: D. Long who wrote (43831)	9/14/2002 12:49:03 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Say, mirabile dictu, the sainted New York Times has finally noticed that Arafat is losing his grip: Arafat's Last Hurrah? By SERGE SCHMEMANN JERUSALEM, Sept. 13 — Nine years ago today, Yasir Arafat stood on the White House lawn, at the zenith of his long career. It was a moment he invoked again and again in his speech to the Palestinian parliament on Monday, how he signed the "peace of the brave with my friend Yitzhak Rabin." Monday's speech may have been his swan song, however. Far from rallying once again behind their leader, the Palestinian Legislative Council proceeded to denounce his rule — for corruption, cronyism, lost opportunities, lost dreams, lost lives — until he gave in to their demands and dumped his entire cabinet. He also set presidential and parliamentary elections for Jan. 20. Of course, Schmemann has to toss a little sympathy the Palestinians as as hard-luck cases, as if they were in their current predicament due to bad luck: The moment had none of the elation of the 1993 White House ceremony, and, typical of the Palestinians' luck, it was largely obscured by the Sept. 11 anniversary and by the looming danger of an attack against Israel from Iraq that an American military strike against Baghdad could provoke. Furthermore, after two years of bloodshed, Israelis and Palestinians are wary of leaping to optimistic conclusions. But on both sides, there was a cautious sense that, just perhaps, a critical corner had been turned. At the very least, Mr. Arafat had received a clear message from his own legislators: step aside. and even Mr. Schmemann has to admit that the Israeli incursions had something to do with the result: The effective coup followed six weeks without a suicide bombing inside Israel. While Israeli leaders attributed this largely to the army's success in intercepting many would-be bombers, they also all acknowledged that Palestinian public opinion seemed to be turning increasingly against violence. It was an assertion made quietly, accompanied by a knock on wood. But intelligence and army officers said privately that there was little question that the unrelenting Israeli incursions to seize or kill militants were undermining the allure of guns and bombs. "I think it is too early to say who is the victor, but without a doubt we should look with great interest at what is happening today in the Palestinian Authority and see what will come out of this stew," said Gideon Ezra, deputy minister of internal security, in what seemed to reflect the reaction of the Israeli government. "I warn ourselves not to interfere, to watch what is going on there, to do our job and in the meantime guard the citizens of the state of Israel." but, since this still is the New York Times, Schmemann has to regard the fighting as an interregnum of violence before the diplomats get right back to the real work of the peace process. So naturally Fuad gets the last word, as if he ran the government instead of having one foot out the door: The signs of movement among Palestinians also nudged Israeli politicians to suggest that their government might also start looking for a new approach. "After two years of a violent clash with Palestinian terror, I think we can say with the utmost caution that there is a ray of light at the end of the tunnel," said Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer, the leader of the Labor Party. The government, he continued, should not put all its faith in military superiority, but should "launch an Arafat-bypassing political initiative that will promote a new order both within the Palestinian establishment and its approach toward Israel." nytimes.com